Hot Times in the Desert and at the Beach

While viewing my Facebook feed one evening earlier this month, I noted that our former Oregon based Boondockers Welcome hosts Sheila and Earl were not far from us at the Owl Canyon Campground a few miles north of Barstow, CA. I made contact and learned that they would be there a few more days. It’s always fun to meet up with fellow travelers, so we decided to join them for a couple of nights.

Before we did that, we headed over to the historic Casa del Desierto in Barstow. This nicely restored building contains free museums that pay homage to its Harvey House roots as well as Route 66 and the Western American Railroad. We toured them all.

Fabulous Mary Colter designed light fixtures have been refurbished.

Our next stop was at Calico Ghost Town. A tourist trap for sure, but we enjoyed a look around with just a handful of other visitors.

School house on the hill.

A few of the buildings are original, but most were reconstructed by Walter Knott of Knott’s Berry Farm.

The five mile dirt road out to Owl Canyon was a bit rougher than Al prefers, but we went slow and easy so haRVy handled it well. The sign below welcomed us upon arrival.

Snakes in the bathroom? Oh NO! They weren’t kidding. Luckily, we didn’t see any. I think the weather was still a bit cool for their liking.

Earl and Sheila with their Casita. We had a great visit with them. Fun folks for sure.

The next day we had a very pleasant hike up Owl Canyon.

Almost felt like Utah or Arizona.

Even got to hike through a cave. Luckily we’d been told to bring our head lamps.

We then went on to spend a night camping at Castaic Lake.

Always happy to see agricultural fields in California.

We just had to get to the Pacific Ocean again, especially since the weather was hot and sunny. So we spent a delightful afternoon and evening at the Pt. Mugu military campground, which is right on the sand.

Mugu Lagoon (on the military base) is the largest remaining salt marsh in Southern California. It is home to thousands of birds and a breeding ground for harbor seals.

You can’t beat a barefoot walk on the beach in February!

Once again we are at my brother Jeff’s house in Camarillo, CA. We are so grateful that he and his wife Paula have provided us with a home base here on the West Coast. I hope we haven’t taken too much advantage of their generosity over the past three winters. Thank you both!

We are here to prepare for our next big adventure …stay tuned!

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Ahhh – barefoot walk on the beach in February! Certainly looked like you were in snake country – but seems you’ve managed to avoid snakes throughout your adventure. As Rick has said many times when we’ve talk about your two and your adventure, “You guys are smart.”